Gary Vacin

A Sun Lakes resident who served as a top turret gunner on a B-24 bomber during World War II will be featured speaker at the Sun Lakes Aero Club gathering on Monday, November 21 at the Sun Lakes Country Club Mirror Room. The session begins at 6:30 p.m. with coffee and camaraderie, followed by the presentation at 7:00 p.m. The public is invited to attend.

Sid Singer survived 17 missions over Nazi Germany during 1944, but said his first mission was his worst. Flying out of a base at Foggia, Italy, the target was a key target at BlackHammer, Germany. “This target was protected by the highest concentration of anti-aircraft fire of any target in Germany,” Singer said.

“This was an eight-hour mission. I wasn’t nervous until we got close to the target, and the sky was full of flak. I could hear it banging against the aircraft, but fortunately we delivered our bomb load and our aircraft returned safely to our base.”

Singer said his planes were never shot down, and he never had to bail out.

During his time in Italy, Singer was allowed to paint “nose art,” on several bombers. In 1997, he received a letter from a collector of aircraft pictures which richly complimented his work.

Today, Singer does beautiful portraits in charcoal and pastels, many of which adorn the walls of his home.

SLAC is an official organization in the Sun Lakes community. The group meets the third Monday of each month from November through April.

For additional information contact Cannon Hill at 509-530-785; Gary Vacin at 298-7017; or visit the SLAC website at www.sunlakesaeroclub.org.